In November the Moroccan new car market continues on its impressive run at 11,326 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 118,669 units and now assured to beat the all-time annual sales record in the country in 2012. While Renault had managed to be the most popular brand in Morocco in September-October, its French-Romanian cousin Dacia is back in pole position in November thanks to 1,937 sales for a 20.9% market share of the Passenger Cars category vs. 1,432 and 15.4% for Renault. Year-to-date, Renault Group sales are up 13% to 43,077 units.

Thanks to my dear friend Audrey who has just spent one week in Casablanca, Morocco I can share with you a report on the status of the Moroccan car landscape in 2012, keeping in mind this is just Casablanca so not a reflection of the whole country. All-in-all, in spite of very strong new car sales over the last few years, the Moroccan car park is still relatively aged, with eighties French models like the Renault 21, Peugeot 205 and 309 still the most frequent. The Peugeot 206, Renault Clio & Symbol, Citroen C3, Fiat Punto and Ford Fiesta are also well represented in the streets of Casablanca.

Characteristic of a car market still finding its way towards maturation, there is both a lot of entry models and a strikingly high occurrence of luxurious 4×4 and sedans from BMW, Mercedes,Volvo or Porsche. The Peugeot 508 makes a remarkable appearance, notably parked in front of top-end hotels along with some Mercedes C Class or BMW 5 Series, which Peugeot would be happy to hear I’m sure. The previous generation Renault Kangoo clearly dominates the LCV market (and at times the overall market).

Dacia Duster in Casablanca, Morocco December 2012. Many thanks to Audrey for the pic!

Back to the bulk of the market and the obvious domination of the Dacia Logan, seen absolutely everywhere in Casablanca. Not surprising, given the model has now been produced locally for close to 8 years. The current generation VW Polo has also had a lot of success with busy women but from Audrey’s point of view, the big hit in Morocco right now is without a doubt the Dacia Duster, seen in all kinds of personalisation forms, with bull bars or enlarged sides, the sign of a model that has entered the car culture of a country. Interestingly the Dacia Sandero is a lot rarer, while the Lodgy and Dokker haven’t flooded the market yet…